On and On and On

"On and On and On"
Single by ABBA
from the album Super Trouper
Released	1980
Format	7"
Genre	Pop, rock
Length	3:40
Label	Polar
Writer(s)	Benny Andersson Björn Ulvaeus
Producer(s)	Benny Andersson Björn Ulvaeus
ABBA singles chronology
"The Winner Takes It All" (1980) "On and On and On" (1980) "Super Trouper" (1980)

"On and On and On" is a pop song recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA in 1980 for their Super Trouper album. It was released as a single in a limited number of countries.

Background

The track, which had working titles "Esses vad det svänger när man spelar jazz" (roughly translated as "God Almighty How it Swings When You're Playing Jazz") and "'Til the Night is Gone", was released as a single in a few countries, namely the United States, Canada, Japan, Argentina, and Australia. The B-side in Australia and Japan was "The Piper", in Argentina and Canada it was "Our Last Summer", and in the USA it was "Lay All Your Love On Me" -- all of which were also taken from the Super Trouper album.

The single peaked at number 9 in Australia, making it the 15th ABBA single to reach the Top 10 in that country. Although the song only managed to reach number 90 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the U.S., its inclusion on a 12-inch single with the songs "Super Trouper" and "Lay All Your Love on Me" merits all three songs as having reached number 1 on the American dance chart in May 1981.

An early mix of the song was used in the accompanying music video, but not released on record in stereo until 2011, and it features an extra verse:

"Standing up is scary if you think you're gonna fall /

Like a Humpty-Dumpty 'fraid of falling off your wall /

I say if you ever wanna know what's going on /

Gotta keep on rocking baby, 'till the night is gone..."

And for the first time since ABBA made music videos, "On and On and On" music video did not feature any live movement of ABBA. Instead, a photo montage was made from their Las Vegas concert during their 1979 United States tour and tried to (somehow) match the action of the photos with the song.

The song is in the Dorian mode.

Chart placings

Charts (1980/1981)	Peak position
Australia	9
France	18
Japan	52
USA	90

Cover versions

• The song's chorus has a backing vocals arrangement clearly influenced by one of Benny Andersson's favorite bands, The Beach Boys, and in particular their 1968 hit "Do It Again". In 1981, Beach Boys member Mike Love returned the compliment by covering "On and On and On" on his solo album Looking Back with Love. It was also included years later on the 1999 compilation ABBA: A Tribute – The 25th Anniversary Celebration.
• A French version was recorded as Ça va mal (Things are bad) by Sylvie Vartan for her 1981 album of the same name.
• The 1992 compilation ABBA: The Tribute contained a cover by Swedish rock musician/singer Mats Ronander.
• The 1995 New Zealand compilation Abbasalutely contains a cover by Tall Dwarfs.
• The San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus recorded a cover of the song for their 1997 album ExtrABBAganza!.
• An eurodance cover by Italian act Raffa was released as a single in 1997.^[1]
• Almighty Records released several eurodance cover remixes of the song from the group Abbacadabra during the late 1990s. Various remixes can be found on the 2008 compilation We Love ABBA: The Mamma Mia Dance Compilation. Audio samples can be heard on the official Almighty Records website.^[2]

References

1. "Raffa – On And On And On (12") at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 9 April 2010.
2. "Abbacadabra | We Love ABBA: The Almighty 12" Collection". Almighty Records.com. Retrieved 9 April 2010.

External links

• Single result
• ABBA 1980